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Mysterious issue with key fobs, garage door openers in North Olmsted solved

Posted at 4:22 PM, May 04, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-06 12:57:34-04

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — The mysterious issue with key fobs and garage door openers in North Olmsted has been solved, according to North Olmsted City Councilman Chris Glassburn.

For several weeks, North Olmsted residents reported their electronic key fob devices and garage door openers had stopped working. Visitors also had issues when they entered the area.

RELATED: Key fobs, garage door openers mysteriously stop working in North Olmsted neighborhood

Glassburn began an investigation assisted by Fairview Park councilmen Angelo Russo and Michel Kilbane.

Initially First Energy went to the neighborhood with sophisticated equipment to try to pinpoint the source of the problem. Following those efforts, the investigating team went door-to-door to try to solve the problem.

The team discovered the cause of the issue was a custom, man-made device inside of a resident’s home. The device, which was not described in detail but stated to have run on a "battery backup," was identified and disabled.

The device was custom-made by the resident to alert him if someone was upstairs when he was working in his basement, according to reporting by the New York Times. The device was designed to persistently put out a 315-megahertz signal, Glassburn told the Times, which is a frequency many fobs and garage door openers rely on.

The device was not created with malicious intent and the resident who built the device has agreed not to create another in the future, according to Glassburn.

Glassburn thanked the local safety departments, community members and crews that assisted in solving the unusual issue.

The device was designed to persistently put out a 315-megahertz signal, Glassburn told the Times, which is a frequency many fobs and garage door openers rely on.